Dream Bird, Hatching the EggSusan Stainman

Guided meditation every Saturday, from 12:30 - 1 PM, throughout the course of the exhibition

Dream Bird, Hatching the Egg is drawn from Walter Benjamin’s essay The Storyteller, where he describes boredom as a necessary part of creating. “This process of assimilation, which takes place in depth, requires a state of relaxation, which is becoming rarer and rarer. If sleep is the apogee of physical relaxation, boredom is the apogee of mental relaxation. Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience.” The dream bird evokes the boundless experience possible beyond the irritation commonly associated with boredom. Benjamin’s conception is akin to the Buddhist idea of natural mind, or buddhanature, the inherent enlightened nature of all beings, often exemplified as a diamond covered in mud. It is said that buddhanature is undefinable, that the closest language can come is to point at the idea. Creativity is born out of this empty space of natural mind and boredom. Scientific studies confirm that people become more prolific and creative through boredom. On the Buddhist path of liberation having a direct experience of natural mind is an essential hallmark. So, it is through boredom and natural mind that we realize authenticity and a sense of freedom, making personal and social liberation possible.